September 2010 MMA News Archive - Page 7

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"I had a pretty slow start actually. I never make excuses before my fights but coming up before this fight I had the worst migraine in the world and it took me actually two rounds to get through that. Everything he was touching me with hurt man, I was just in a bad situation there. I just tried to gut it out and my head kinda cleared up and things worked out well in (the third) round but I guess not well enough to win the fight ... I'm just gonna keep fighting and see what happens."

Former UFC champion and longtime top-10 heavyweight Josh Barnett has inked a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce, officials today announced.
Terms of the deal and a debut date were not disclosed.
The 32-year-old fighter enters the organization with an overall 26-5 mark and a current six-fight win streak that includes victories over the likes of Jeff Monson, Pedro Rizzo, Gilbert Yvel and Geronimo dos Santos.

Jorge Masvidal (20-6), who recently dropped a decision to #10 Ranked Welterweight, Paul Daley, has signed with Strikeforce, and will be dropping back down to lightweight.
"I signed a 6 fight, 2 year deal with Strikeforce. Let the world know I am going to knock out everybody they put in front of me. I don't have an opponent yet but I want a big fight; you know. I want Melendez or the next big name. No B level fighters. Beerbohm is good but nobody really knows him. I would like to get Kawajiri, that would be great."

Frank Mir has taken his first verbal shots at UFC 119 opponent Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic, accusing the Croatian of ‘making excuses’ and claiming he will submit the PRIDE FC grand prix champion in the first round.

After years of a relationship that could best be termed "sometimes rocky," billionaire businessman and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has settled his differences with UFC president Dana White – at least enough for the UFC to open the door for Cuban's TV network, HDNet. Cuban made the announcement on Friday's episode of "Inside MMA," a weekly mixed martial arts interview and highlights show that airs on HDNet with hosts Kenny Rice and former King of Pancrase champion Bas Rutten. Cuban said the network will now be granted access to Zuffa events and will be able to use video highlights after fights. And he said Rice and Rutten would be at UFC events as part of the "Inside MMA" show. Cuban said any perceived rifts with White over the years were merely the nature of business. As for the future plans, "Going forward, you'll see HDNet at all the UFC events," Cuban said. "We'll have (Rice and Rutten) there. We'll be doing interviews there. Hopefully we'll be able to go live from weigh-ins. They still have their deals with Spike, obviously, and Versus, and they'll still work closely with some other folks. But we'll have full access, and that's going to be a big change. That means ("Inside MMA") will have a lot more access. I'm looking forward to working really closely with them and doing a lot more with them."

When Houston Alexander burst into national consciousness with back-to-back highlight-reel stoppages in the UFC, "The Assassin" seemed primed to provide the world with and endless stream of entertaining video clips. Unfortunately for Alexander, in five of his next six fights those clips involved someone else getting their hand raised at the end of the reel. But the 38-year-old has always refused to quit, even when it seemed like his only option, and never was that attitude more apparent than in his Shark Fights 13 victory over fellow UFC veteran Sokoudjou. "My kids, I always tell those guys never give up," Alexander said following the win. "I proved that you never give up. Never give up."

A welterweight bout between rising contenders Rick Story (11-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) and Johny Hendricks (9-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is slated for The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale in December.
A source close to the event today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that verbal agreements are in place and that bout agreements are in the process of being finalized.

"I am really a huge fan of BJ Penn, he is one of my favorite fighters. He lost by decision. When we look at martial arts in it's most extreme form, we need to win by submission or knockout. In that sense, he didn't lose. He lost that fight but he is still 'the man'. He is still my favorite fighter."

He's not unhappy with getting Das Boot, he's unhappy with the fact that Dana White didn't tell it to him personally. "[Knowing] Dana White's character, I would have expected nothing less than getting kicked out of the UFC. He could have done it a little more gracefully and told me personally. To this day I've still never heard nothing from Dana. With all the talk Dana gives and the attitude of being a big man that he is, he could have at least came to my face and said 'Paul, I don't respect what you did, I think you're an (expletive) or a jerk or whatever, you're not going to fight here again. But still to this day, I've had no phone call, no e-mail, no nothing, so that just goes to show the treatment I received having fought [Martin] Kampmann at late notice, and fought co-main event on my second fight in the UFC, and done a bunch of media work for them in the U.K. There's some things I don't agree with, but I'm happy to move on. The UFC is the UFC. It's like a secret society type club, there's a lot of favoritism going on and all kinds of [expletive]."

Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia will try his hands at the professional wrestling game later this month in Japan – and may be joined by fellow heavyweights Josh Barnett and Bob Sapp, both of whom have wrestled professionally in Japan.
A source close to Sylvia's camp told MMA Fighting on Friday that contracts have been signed for Sylvia to take part in two fights, with the first coming in two weeks – and that first bout is likely to come against Barnett.

UFC president Dana White isn't exaggerating when he discusses his sport's popularity in Canada.
With mixed martial arts now legalized in Ontario, the UFC is eyeing a potential show in Toronto in March of 2011, on top of a return to the Bell Centre in Montreal this December for UFC 124.
Fans north of the border have thrown their support behind a stable of homegrown fighters who are making their mark in the UFC.
Here's a look at what's next for some of Canada's most promising fighters in the second half of 2010.

And yes, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira uttered the dreaded "G" word. "I guarantee that I'm going to give (Ryan Bader) his first loss of his career. It would be very gratifying for me to show my fans a great show and knock out Bader the same way I knocked out Luis Cane. Bader is a new guy, he wants to establish himself in the rankings. I'm an older guy. With more experience and my experience will work in my favor, and help me beat Bader in this fight. He definitely has a lot more experience in wrestling that I do. But I think what I'm missing in my wrestling game he is missing in his jiu-jitsu game on the ground. So I think if he takes the fight to the ground he is going to get caught. So it's probably wiser for him to keep the fight standing up."

A bout between promotional newcomers and undefeated welterweights Pascal Krauss (9-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Kenny Robertson (10-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is expected to take place at UFC 122.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) learned from a source close to the event that at least one fighter has agreed to the bout. The German site groundandpound.de first reported the matchup on Thursday.
UFC 122 takes place Nov. 13 at Konig Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany, and airs via same-day delay on Spike TV. A middleweight fight between Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami headlines the event.

A major heavyweight bout has been added to this month's Bellator 31 event.
During Thursday's Bellator broadcast on FOX Sports Net, officials confirmed a Sept. 30 booking between top heavyweight prospect Dave Herman (16-2 MMA, 1-0 BFC) and former UFC champ Ricco Rodriguez (44-11 MMA, 0-0 BFC), who's seen a career resurgence in recent years.
Herman and Bellator officials have been in a contract dispute.
Herman sued Bellator in July, as Sherdog.com initially reported, and the organization in turn counter-sued the fighter, who had been slated to fight at this weekend's Shark Fights 13 event before he was pulled from the card.

The fight card for World Victory Road's upcoming Sengoku Raiden Championship 15 event is taking shape with the addition of a fight between lightweights Leonardo Santos (8-3 MMA, 2-1 SRC) and Maximo Blanco (6-2-1 MMA, 4-1 SRC).
WVR officials today announced that fight, as well as the pairings for the quarterfinal round of their Asian bantamweight tourney.
Sengoku Raiden Championship 15 takes place Oct. 30 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and airs via HDNet in North America.

An exciting night of fights for Bellator as they put on a show for New Orleans tonight. As the Saints win the NFL season opener and fans rejoice, others are left with bitter dissappointment for some less famous Louisiana natives.

Spending time in Germany growing up taught Kris McCray how to speak the native tongue, and he'll get the chance to show that off as the 11th season "Ultimate Fighter" runner-up will head to Deutschland on Nov 13 for UFC 122 as he faces Brazilian Carlos Eduardo Rocha in a welterweight bout on the card.

Last week on MMA Nation on 106.7 The Fan, we caught up with perennial UFC middleweight contender Nate "The Great" Marquardt. There was much to discuss as we wanted to gauge his reaction to the Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen bout, get a sense of how he was preparing for his upcoming headline fight on Spike TV against the dangerous submission specialist Rousimar Palhares and cover much more.
Marquardt is soft-spoken, but hardly dreary-eyed or laid back. While somber about the loss to Sonnen, he's focused about the road ahead. He openly wants to fight whoever he needs to to get another shot at the middleweight title even if he knows beating Palhares next Wednesday is no matter of procedure.